Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif held talks with his Indian counterpart, Sushma Swaraj, in New Delhi on Tuesday to discuss ways of preserving mutual trade relations as well as other areas of shared interest.
Zarif described the meeting as useful, saying such dialogue would certainly be helpful in sustaining the Asian countries' ties.
The two sides discussed a range of subjects, including trade and energy relations, Chabahar Port, Afghan security issues and the latest developments with regard to Iran's 2015 nuclear deal that was violated by the United States last year, ISNA reported.
"Trade between Iran and India stands at a high level at present and the two countries are trying to sustain it," Zarif told reporters after the meeting.
India's export of goods such as rice and tea to Iran were worth $2.65 billion in 2017-18 and its imports were valued at $11.11 billion, largely consisting of Iranian crude but also including non-oil products such as saffron.
To counter the US banking sanctions, the Indian state-run IDBI Bank is in the process of creating Iran trade processing cells in three Indian cities to handle import-export transactions.
The two sides also discussed energy cooperation. India is a major investor in Iranian oil and gas industry. Iran was a major supplier of oil to India, the world's third biggest consumer, but it had to stop its purchases in the wake of US sanctions on the sector.
Washington had given temporary waivers to eight countries, including Indi,a to continue their import of Iranian oil, but did not reissue the exemptions when they expired in early May.
India cut its import, announcing that it would get additional supplies from other oil producing countries to compensate for the loss of Iranian oil.
The strategic Chabahar Port in southeast Iran, whose operations have been handed over to India, was another subject discussed by the two ministers.
The US has exempted the Indian-backed port from new sanctions on Tehran, recognizing the value of the project to Afghanistan.
Chabahar provides a key supply route to the landlocked Afghanistan.
Zarif also briefed Swaraj on Iran's approach to the nuclear deal after the US exit, its reimposition of sanctions and intensification of economic and military pressure.
"We provided explanations about Iran's measures in this regard like we had explained to our close allies such as Russia," he was quoted as saying by ISNA.
In reaction to the US withdrawal and increasing pressure, Iran announced in early May that it will stop complying with two of its commitments under the agreement, giving other parties 60 days to take steps to protect Iran's oil and banking benefits.
Swaraj called for the full implementation of the nuclear accord by all parties so that Iran's interests would be preserved.
"We stressed that our measures were within the framework of JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action]," Zarif said.
